Evolution/Creation Dialogues

EVOLUTION/CREATION DIALOGUES

EPISTOLARY SKIRMISHES IN THE PERENNIAL CONFLICT BETWEEN

COMMON DESCENT AND SPECIAL CREATION

"In that case [the Scopes Trial], anti-evolutionists were fearful that a scientific idea would undermine religious belief. Today, pro-evolutionists are fearful that a religious idea will undermine scientific belief. The former had insufficient confidence in religion, the latter insufficient confidence in science. The point is that profound but contradictory ideas may exist side by side, if they are constructed from different materials and methods and have different purposes. Each tells us something important about where we stand in the universe, and it is foolish to insist that they must despise each other." - Neil Postman. The End of Education, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1995, p.107.

This website was created primarily to clear up some unfinished business relating to the exchange of correspondence between me, Jack DeBaun (a proponent of the theory of evolution), and Mr. Tim Knapp (a self-described young-earth creationist (YEC)). This exchange was initiated by Mr. Knapp in the letters to the editor section of a local newspaper in response to the October, 2001, PBS series on evolution. It eventually took on the form of an e-mail debate, and ultimately resulted in my development of this website to clarify my position on the subject. The correspondence exchanged between Mr. Knapp and myself ( together with a chronology of the ensuing events) is presented below under the title, "The DeBaun/Knapp Epistolary Skirmish." The dialogue incorporates many of the arguments that are commonly raised by creationists against the theory of evolution and my responses to them. This website also includes additional comments relating to Mr. Knapp's website, correspondence with other creationists and Intelligent Design (ID) advocates, and articles and links that address salient issues related to the evolution/creation controversy. [Note: As of 3/6/08, Mr. Knapp's website no longer appears to be active.]

In my dealings with various creationists, I have found that most of them lack a firm understanding of what the theory of evolution actually entails and an appreciation of the vast data bank of evidence that supports it. (That, of course, does not often deter them from behaving as if they had a better grasp of the theoretical aspects of the theory than the scientists who have spend the better part of their lives studying the subject.) Many of them are creationists primarily because religious authorities have drummed it into their heads that the acceptance of evolution is antithetical to their spiritual wellbeing. For many such individuals, all they know about evolution is what their religious leaders have told them and what they have gleaned from the pseudoscience cranked out by creationist propaganda mills. Hence, they are, more often than not, left with a distorted and grossly misleading caricature of what evolution is really all about. They have been taught that evolutionary theory is a dangerous form of scientific materialism that invalidates any sense of morality. It is little wonder, then, that many creationists are so strongly convinced that evolution is nothing more than a Satan-inspired fairytale concocted by a cabal of godless heathens for the purpose of destroying their faith.

Be that as it may, acceptance of the theory of evolution most assuredly does not preclude a belief in God. Many devout Christians accept the theory for what it is: the best scientific explanation for the diversity of life on Earth that is compatible with all the available empirical evidence. It is said that it is nearly impossible to use reason and evidence to argue a person out of a position which they did not use reason and evidence to arrive at in the first place. Nonetheless, I am aware of several once hardcore, but open-minded, creationists who, after having been presented with the supportive evidence, have renounced their former beliefs and accepted the evolutionary paradigm. (Like many reformed addicts, they are now some of the most vocal proponents of evolution on the web.) It is with the hope that I may enlighten even one such individual that I present the material on this website. If I am unable to achieve even that meager level of success, I hope that at least those on both sides of the controversy will find the information presented here to be both interesting and informative.